Elevator hatchway door operator



Jan. 11, A1949.

R. HAINs ELEVATOR HATCHWAY DOOR OPERATOR 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 14,1947 I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I l I I I I I I I I I I I I I I II I I l I Q R. HAINS' ELEVATOR HATCHWAY DOOR OPERATOR Jan. 11, 1949.

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1 IIWSS Filed Feb. 14,. 1947 R. HAINS ELEVATOR HATCHWAY DOOR OPERATORJan. El, 1949.

Filed Feb. 14, 1947 5 Sheets-.Sheet 5 with a crank disc or roller I6which cooperates with guides l1 and I8 mounted in a yoke I9 which ispivotally mounted at 22 on a xed bracket or journal 23. The crank discguides |1 and |8 are mounted in a slotted opening in the yoke I9 and thelower portion of this yoke is provided with an arcuate slot 2| by meansof which the upper end of the main operating arm 24 can be secured tothe yoke at the desired angular position to provide the necessaryadjustment to meet varying conditions likely to be encountered inelevator installations. As is well known, the lever 24 when in use isrigidly connected-to the yoke |9 for rocking movement therewith on thepivot pin 22.

The lower end of the lever 24 is provided with an elbow or angularlyshaped fitting 25 which is pivotally connected by means of the pivot pin25a to a lever 2B which is pivotally mounted on a supporting pin 21secured to the clutch supporting plate 28. As is clear from Figure 1,the plate 28 is secured to the outer face of the car door 2.

Secured to the plate 28 by means of Allen screws 30 is an L-shapedbracket 29 on which is slidably mounted the relatively xed clutch shoe3|. Theshoe 3| is provided with a series of pins 32, of which the endpair as shown in Figure 2, are provided with a pair of lock nuts, andthe central pair are plain guide pins. All of these pins are enclosed bycoil springs 33 which lie between the shoe and the bracket to hold themin the position shown in Figure 2. Movement of the shoe 3| to the leftis limited by the lock nuts. All of the pins 32 may slide in the holesin the bracket provided for them.

As is clear particularly from Figure 5, pivotally mounted on bearingpins 34 are a pair of levers 35 provided with pivot pins 36 to which therelatively movable shoe 38 is secured while allowing pivotal movementtherebetween. The levers 35 provide for movement of the shoe 38 towardsand away from the shoe 3| maintaining parallelism therewith. As is clearfrom Figure 2, the shoe 38 if free naturally tends to fall downwardly asthe levers 35 move in a clockwise direction but to insure rapid andpositive action coil springs 39 are provided which are anchored to aidthis movement. The bracket 42 (see Fig. 2 for example) is secured to theplate 28 and adjustably mounted init is a stop screw 43 having aresilient bumper member 44 positioned to engage the uppermost lever 35to provide a silent stop therefor in an opening direction.

rSecured to the underface of the shoe 38 is an adjustable cam |39. Thiscam is provided with three lock screws operating in angularly arrangedslots in the shoe 38 so that the cam can be tipped about the centrallock screw to provide for iinal adjustment of this cam. The camisprovided with a sharply cuived shoulder at its upper end and acurvalinear portion which is`concentric with the pivot pin 21 aboutwhich the lever 26 rotates. Mounted on the pivot pin 25aris a camfollower 4| which engages the periphery of the cam |39 and is preferablya ball bearing mounted roller.

When the car stops opposite a shaftway door the roller 9 thereof will bein the position shown in Figure 3, that `is it will lie between theclutch shoes 3| and 38. At this time the clutch will be fully opened,which is the position shown in Figure 3. Asthe lever 24 starts inopening direction it will cause lever 26 to pivot in a counterclockwisedirection around its supporting pivot pin 21. As a result the camfollower 4| will force Gil the cam |39 to the right as it rides up itssharply curved portion, moving the shoe 38 to the dotted position shownin Figure 3 when the highest point of the cam is reached. The relativelyfixed shoe 3| is resiliently mounted, as is evident, to adapt for anyirregularities in the position of the hatchway door rollers. Theserollers are usually covered with some resilient material to reducenoise, and as the movable shoe 3B has a definite forward position whenthe clutch is closed, the ability of shoe 3| to be displaced as requiredprevents any undue binding or straining of the cooperating parts. As thesharply curved portion of the cam |39 is steeply inclined, only a littlemovement of the levers 24 and 26 is required to close the clutch so thatthe car door has but a slight opening movement before the hatchway doorbegins to open. The remaining movement of the mechanism does not affectthe closed position of the clutch, that is it remains closed during theopening movement of the car and hatchway doors and remains closed duringtheir closing movement until about the last inch oi movement of thesedoors when the clutch begins to open. Thus both sets of doors move inunison. Actual attainment of this condition in practice is insured byreason of the adjustability of the cam |39 on the shoe 38. During theopening movement of the clutch the springs 33 speed the opening of theclutch, which opening is aided by gravity. In actual practice it hasbeen found that these springs are not essential the mechanism willoperate usefully without them. The cushioning bumper lll preventsovertravel of the clutch shoe 33 in an open ing direction whilecontributing to silent operation of the mechanism.

Silent operation is further insured by the fact that the cam follower 4|is in contact with cam |33 for all positions of the mechanism.

The mechanism of Figures 6 and 9 inclusive is substantially like thatpreviously described but involves a somewhat simpliiied mechanism inthat the relatively fixed shoe 5| corresponding to the shoe 3l of thefirst form of the invention does not include any yielding construction.The shoe 6| is rigidly mounted on the supporting plate 68 correspondingto the plate 23. |The relatively movable shoe 82 is supported upon apair of pvoted arms 63 like the arms 35 and in this arrangement nosprings are employed to aid the opening movement of the clutch. The cam654 corresponds to the cam |39 and is adjustably secured to theunderface of the shoe The lever 24 with its fixtures 25 is pivotallyconnected as before at 25a to the lever 26 which is pivotally mounted onthe plate 53. In this form no cushioned stop corresponding to themembers 42, 43 and 44 is shown, although it can be used.

The operation of this form of device is substantially like that of theother and the parts are in the various positions during the door openingcycle as progressively illustrated in Figures 6, '7, 8 and 9. In thisform of the device, as in the previous form, the swing of the lever 24is such that the cam follower 4| moves over the concentric portion ofther cam 64 from its highest point to its lower end and partway backagain, as is clear from Figure 9.

From the above description it will be apparent to those skilled in theart that the subject matter of this invention can be employed in otherphysical forms, and I do not, therefore, desire `to be limited to theforms employed here for il-l lustrating this subject matter, but ratheronly as required by the claims granted me.

5 What is claimed is: l. A door clutch for an elevator system com-`prising a support, a pair of shoes, one of which is relatively xecl andthe other of which is relatively movable on said support, means forpivotally supporting the latter for movement towards and away from theformer while maintaining parallelism therewith, a cam attached to thelatter, a lever pivotally mounted on said support for movement relativeto said cam and having a cam follower on the free end thereof, and meansfor electing oscillation of said lever whereby said relatively movableshoe is moved towards and away from said relatively xed shoe.

2. In the combination of claim 1, said cam having a sharply curvedportion and a less sharply curved portion.

3. In the combination of claim 1, said cam having a sharply curvedportion and a less sharply curved portion, said second portion beingsubstantially concentric with the pivot center of said lever.

4. In the combination of claim l, said cam being adjustably secured tosaid relatively movable shoe.

5. In the combination of claim l, said relatively xed shoe including aresilently supported working member.

6. In the combination of claim 1, said means for' pivotally supportingthe relatively movable shoe comprising a pair mounted.

7. In the combination of claim 1, said means for pivotally supportingt-he relatively movable shoe comprising a pair of levers pivotallymounted, and means for biasing their movement in one direction.

8. In the combination of claim 1, said means for pivotally supportingthe relatively movable shoe comprising a pair of levers pivotallymounted, said relatively movable shoe being secured to said levers so asto tend to move towards open position under the action of gravity.

9. A clutch mechanism as described comprising a supporting plate havinga shoe secured thereto, a second shoe pivotally supported on said plate`lor movement towards and away from the rst shoe While maintainingparallelism therewith, a lever pivotally mounted on said plate having acam follower on the free end thereof, and a cam secured to said secondshoe so as to be engaged by said lcam follower, operation of said levercausing movement of said movable shoe.

10. In the combination of claim 9, said cam having a sharply curvedportion merging with a more flatly curved portion whereby initialmovement of said lever causes full movement of the second shoe towardsthe rst.

RANDALL HAINS.

of levers pivotall'y' No references cited.

